


A Comfort

by slothfulzel



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-09
Updated: 2013-01-09
Packaged: 2017-11-24 06:09:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/631296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slothfulzel/pseuds/slothfulzel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jim comes to Bones after a hard day in Sickbay</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Comfort

The sound of the door sliding closed alerted Leonard to someone entering his quarters. He didn't have to turn around to know that his Captain was currently the one standing behind his couch; he also didn't have to ask to know exactly why Jim was there in the first place.

Leonard didn't move, barely breathed, as he sat in the middle of his couch. His posture was stiff and harsh, as if he was sitting straight up just to punish himself.

That really wasn't far from the truth.

Leonard had just returned from the Emergency Operation corridor of sickbay, from an ensign bleeding out from every fucking orifice on his operating table -- a now dead ensign. 

Rods was his name. Leonard made sure to look; he wanted to know the name that belonged to the bright green eyes that would haunt McCoy now and probably forever, just like the others he had lost did. 

The ensign was no more than a kid by any standard. His hair was cropped short in an attempt to make him look older, but Leonard could easily spot the baby-fat that still clung to his cheeks and torso. The kid had freckles and the remnants of a harelip that wasn't fully repaired, he hadn't even grown into his own damn facial hair for Christ's sake, and now he was dead.

Tears were beyond McCoy now. Before, when he had first started, he might have shed a tear or two, just from the sheer shock of watching a person expire before his eyes -- from the thought that he wasn't good enough to save them, or from the thought that they trusted him with their life and he had let them down. Now, though, he was numb and probably would be for the next few days as he contacted Cadet Rods' relatives and took their beatings. Hell, he welcomed them. He deserved all that they would give him.

Leonard glanced up as Jim suddenly came into focus in front of his eyes, pulling him from his thoughts. He knew Jim must have seen something he didn't like when he looked into McCoy's eyes because the Captain's face took on a frown so deep it was all Leonard could do not to reach up and smooth out Jim's face with his finger tips. He wanted to set something right after failing so miserably the hours before.

Instead Leonard lashed out with a harsh growl, commanding that he was not to be pitied in the goddamned least, y'hear that Jim?

Jim, of course, completely ignored him and flopped down beside his CMO with a quiet grunt.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Jim apparently couldn't take it anymore. Leonard didn't turn to his Captain as Jim turned to him -- he couldn't see the disappointment there, couldn't see the emotions he himself was trying so hard to ignore.

Jim didn't seem to mind, but McCoy was completely taken aback as his best friend enveloped him in a hug. Leonard's voice was muffled by Jim's shoulder as he tried to move away.

"Jim, what the hell? I don't need a goddamned hug, get the fuck off!" Jim didn't move away, however, in fact he moved closer, pressing his whole body up against his friend's. McCoy opened his mouth to object again, but Jim beat him to the punch.

"S'not for you, Bones." The words were barely more than a whisper. Leonard stopped trying to move away and let himself be held limply for a moment before he wriggled around on the couch. The two men ended up lying on the couch, wrapped tightly around one another. 

Leonard knew that Jim Kirk could be child, could be a womanizer, could be an utter dickhead when he was of the mind to be. But now Leonard knew that James T. could be tender, penetrable in the most terrifying and humanistic of ways. McCoy knew that Jim loved him, from just the simple motion of comforting and being comforted.

McCoy knew it wouldn't last long, but he treasured it all the same in those moments. He let Jim, his Captain, wash away the pain with tears that he himself could no longer produce.


End file.
